What is at stake in Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s recent judicial review
Sara Derksen (they/them) // News Editor
Lily Jones (she//her) // Contributing Visuals
səlilwətaɬ/Tsleil-Waututh Nation has filed a judicial review in opposition of a new permit granted by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) allowing itself to dredge Burrard Inlet, according to a media release made by the First Nation on July 9,, 2026. The VFPA has indicated that the Second Narrows Dredging Works will take place from late summer of 2026 to February 2027. During which time they will be dredging along the existing deep-sea navigation channel located to the east of Iron Workers Memorial Bridge beneath the Second Narrows waterway.
The dredging would accommodate fully loaded Aframax-class oil tankers travelling through the waters, as currently these ships can only load to 80 per cent capacity at the risk of hitting the sea floor. The objective of this project is to increase shipping efficiency in and out of Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine Terminal.
In a statement made by Chief Justin George as part of the media release by Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN), he says that “[w]hile Tsleil-Waututh understands the proposed dredge is an important step for Canada’s international trade objectives […] the approval process has been rushed and has not addressed any of [TWN’s] concerns about marine shipping impacts.”
According to the port authority, the project involves first removing two soon-to-be decommissioned Metro Vancouver waterlines which would interfere with the dredging efforts. During the dredging process, there will also be the installation of two new navigation aids in the waters to the north of Commissioner Street, near the location of the existing aid. These range lights will be used by vessels to safely guide their position into the channel. The dredging will occur sometime between Aug. 16, 2026 and Feb. 28, 2027. As indicated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), it is the least-risk window to protect fish in the inlet.
The DFO has also issued a Fisheries Act Authorization (FAA) to the port authority. An FAA is an exception given to projects that are likely to result in the destruction of fish or fish habitats. In order to carry out the project, a DFO requirement is that the applicant proves they understand the potential damage their project might do to the environment and that they will take measures to minimize the consequences of the work as well as offset any damage..
It is also recommended to FAA applicants that they co-develop plans that may violate Aboriginal and treaty rights with the First Nations who may be impacted by the results of the work. Further, applicants are advised to consider their concerns early on, while taking into consideration how to accommodate throughout the planning process.
TWN asserts that despite their engagement in the consultation process, the impacts of the project on Indigenous rights and the environment have not been fully taken into account.
A Project and Environmental Review was conducted by VFPA to ascertain to what extent the dredging will impact both the ecosystem and the people living in the potentially affected area, per the requirements of Canada’s Impact Assessment Act. This procedure is standard for planned work on federal lands and waters in the jurisdiction of the port authority and is crucial to deciding whether a project will be allowed to proceed as proposed.
The project was assessed to be in Category C of the project and environmental review categories for dredging. This categorization indicates a months-long project with what the VFPA refers to as a moderate potential for environmental and community impacts. Key attributes specified by the port authority include the potential integration of Indigenous consultation throughout the process of developing the project. But, public engagement and stakeholder consultation is explicitly required.
TWN argues that this review process presented significant gaps in the assessment of how the dredging and consequential increase in marine traffic, will compound the already considerable damage that industrial development has done to Tsleil-Waututh title, rights, culture and way of life. They allege that despite repeatedly raising the issue to VFPA during the consultation process, the port authority issued the permit. Yet they only assessed what is claimed to be a limited set of physical impacts resulting from the dredging.
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) also expressed in a July 6, 2026 statement made by Chairperson Sxwíxwtn Wilson Williams, that they have concerns that have yet to be resolved regarding the project as there is potential for direct impacts to several of their reserves and their village site at Stanley Park.
A draft Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) was prepared by Hatfield, the same environmental consultancy group that worked on the Whey-ah-Wichen shoreline restoration project. In the CEMP, it is mentioned that there is a possibility of at-risk species being present at the site. However, “a permit under SARA is not anticipated to be required” and VFPA will follow mitigations as prescribed by the DFO.
Furthermore, the works have the potential to produce hazardous waste such as “waste oils, chemical wastes and used absorbent materials and filters” which would be expelled into the inlet. The pH of the water will be monitored for changes during some work activities. During the removal of the decommissioned pipes, there is the possibility of cutting-related debris being created.
The typical method of managing turbidity in projects, such as dredging, is the use of silt curtains that serve as a barrier between the loose silt agitated by underwater ventures. However, Hatfield has deemed it unfeasible to use silt curtains in the inlet. In the wake of numerous stewardship initiatives to revitalize the inlet, orcas have been seen with greater frequency in the territory. It was found that the project will involve both low and high noise-generating activities, which can cause “physical injury or acoustic impacts” in marine mammals.A 2024 physical parameters technical report for the Government of B.C. and Tsleil-Waututh Nation indicates that when the physical parameters of the Burrard Inlet are altered, the aquatic ecosystem experiences fundamental effects. Changes in parameters of concern to the project such as the pH and turbidity of the water can notably cause ocean acidification and a decrease in phytoplankton which are essential to the biotic community.
While mitigation measures for these issues as well as general mitigations are outlined in the CEMP, these risks are evident and could compound the existing environmental issues facing the inlet.
In TWN’s Burrard Inlet Action Plan, it is concluded that based on an assessment of the conditions in the inlet, pollution of the waters from multiple sources is causing damage to flora and fauna of the area. Animals once recorded as abundant in the area are observed as being in a historic population decline. Climate change is raising the sea level and impacting the yearly flow patterns, which has been noted in TWN’s statements regarding the shoreline restoration of Whey-ah-Wichen, as a significant contributor to shoreline erosion along the inlet.
Tsleil-Waututh Nation is a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal partner, and describe themselves as having a “sacred, legal obligation to past, current, and future generations to protect, defend and steward the water, land, air, and resources of [their] territory” in statements discussing stewardship.
Through the Treaty, Lands and Resources Department, TWN continues to assert their rights to land and title as detailed by Section 35 of the Constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. As Burrard Inlet continues to face industrialization, efforts to protect the waters are ongoing.